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“Count them? Why don't you count them?”

“Because you're quicker.”

Jayden came up behind Bliss and rested his hands on her shoulders. “You should count them.”

Rolling my eyes, I said, “Fine.” Looking into the jar, I started with the bugs on the sides. “One, two, three. . .”

Wait. . . What is that?

Something in the bottom glittered. It wasn't blinking, it wasn't a burst of light that snapped and disappeared. The color was different, it wasn't green or blueish, it was brighter, with more colors, sparkling like a disco ball.

Is that. . .

Oh my God, it is.

Snapping my head up, Jayden wasn't standing anymore, but he was resting on one knee. The look in his eyes gave me chills, wonderful, incredible chills.

“Are you?” I asked, covering my mouth with one hand as I held the jar.

“I am,” he replied, gently sticking his hand into the jar and pulling out the ring. Swallowing hard, Jayden bit his bottom lip, tugging on it slightly. “Betty-Sue Fable,” he said, taking my hand in his. “Will you marry me?”

Tears had started fall down my cheeks as the realization set in that he was asking me to be his wife. Letting out a happy gasp of air, I sniffled and nodded my head. “Yes, of course.”

Bliss started cheering as Jayden slipped the ring over my finger and stood up. Clapping came from behind us, causing me to whip around.

My mother and father were up by the house, both of them with tears in their eyes. I could see the happiness in my father's face, I could see how proud he was of us, and the life we were building together.

Wrapping me in a big hug, Jaydeb held me like he never wanted to let me go.

And that was fine with me. Because I didn't want to ever be anywhere else.

Fate had a way of finding you, my father was right when he said that. Fate wasn't always kind, it wasn't always filled with smiles and laughs. There was anger and hate, there was sadness and tears, fate had a dark side.

But if you waded through the mud, if you found your way through that darkness, the sun would eventually shine.

We all have stories, our pages mixed with good and bad. But it took all the pages, each and every one to make us who we were. Jayden was an incredible man, a wonderful, amazing father, and I was lucky to call him mine.

I had been his for a lifetime already.

And I was ready to be his for eternity.